Musical toy.



PATENTBD'MAY a1, .1904,

w. A. GAY. MUSICAL TOY. APPLICATION PILBDMAR. 22, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

j Qttow we IN! NORRI! PEYEKS DO PNQYQLITNQ, WASNINGTON D C Patented May31, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLI M ALFRED GAY, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MUSICAL TOY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 761,469, dated May 31,1904.

Application filed March 22, 1904.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM ALFRED GAY, a citizen of the United States,residing in Newark, in the county of Essexand State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Toys, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to a musical toy of that class in which vibratoryrods are employed as the sound-emitting device, in connection withkey-operated hammers, so that musical notes in the nature of chimes areproduced; and to this end my invention consists of a musical toycomprising a series of vibratory rods supported in a metal base,oscillating hammers for striking said rods, and keys for operating saidhammers, said hammers being provided with projections at the upper endof the hammers below the keys for actuating the hammers and sounding therods.

The invention consists,further,of certain details of construction inconnection with the oscillating hammers for producing the more eifectiveworking of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and finallypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of myimproved musical toy. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of thesame on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the lower partof the toy, drawn on a larger scale, with the front wall of the casingremoved, so as to show the interior construction; and Fig. 4 is aVertical transverse section on line 4 4, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. In LettersPatent granted to me for a musical toy on December 8, 1891, No. 464,863,a series of vibratory rods cast in a metal frame are employed, saidvibratory rods being vibrated by suitable means for producing themusical sounds. i

In my improved musical toy which forms the subject-matter of thisapplication a series of vibratory sound-emitting rods supported in ametal base are likewise employed; but in place of striking the rods atrandom by means of a striker a corresponding series of hammcrs andactuating-keys are arranged so that Serial No. 199,368. (No model.)

either the individual rods may be vibrated and the sound emitted in thenature of chimes or several hammers be actuated at the same time so asto emit harmonic chords, the rods being preferably tuned in the diatonicscale. They may, however, be so adjusted as to form the chromatic scale.I am not limited to the arrangement of the rods in any one or particularscale. The vibratory rods are preferably arranged in an upright casinga, on the bottom of which is supported a metallic bar I), by which thevibratory rods 0 are supported in upright position, the longest rodsextending throughout the height of the casing 66 and being graduallydiminished in length, so as to produce sounds corresponding from thelowest to the uppermost notes. 1

The rods are inclosed by the casing. The latter is made of any suitablematerial, such as wood, so as to act as a sounding-box. The

hammersd are arranged at the lower part of the casing. Each hammer isprovided at its upper part with a recess and is supported by atransverse rail d, which enters said recess and which is attached to theside wall of the casing a, as shown in Fig. 3, said supportingrail beingprovided with rearWardly-projecting separating-pins 0Z that extendbetween the hammers, and thereby separate one hammer from another, so asto permit their free oscillation, While preventing lateral motion of thesame; In place of the rail 03 any other suitable means may be employedfor holding the hammers in placesuch, for example, as a plain shaftpassing through holes in the hammers. Above the supporting-rail cl thehammers are provided at their upper ends with forwardly-projectingrest-pieces e, which extend'at a right angle from the hammershanks andon which rest verticallyguided keys 7?, provided with buttons at theirupper ends, the shanks of the keys beingguided in a-horizontal guide-bara of the frame a. A shorter front wall a extends parallel with the rearwall and closes the lower part of the easing a, in which the hammers arearranged, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. From the lower end of the hammersextend rearwardly strikerplates f, preferably of metal, which arearranged at right angles to the hammer-shanks and which are attachedthereto, so that as soon as any one of the keys is depressed thecorresponding hammer is oscillated, so that the striker-plate strikesits rod 0, so as to set it in vibration, and thus cause it to emit amusical sound. The hammers are held in position on the supporting-rail(Z by a transverse rail g, which extends at the rear of the sameparallel with the supporting-rail, the lower front corner of saidretaining-rail being preferably beveled, so as not to interfere with theoscillations of the hammers while preventing them from leaving therounded-off edge of the supporting-rail d. The retaining-rail 9 extendsto some extent over the rear ends of the separating-pins (Z and servesthereby for reliably retaining the upper recessed ends of thehammer-shanks on the supportingrail (Z, while permitting the convenientassembling of the parts on the hammer-supporting rail in front of theretaining-bar g when the parts of the toy are assembled, there being noconnection between the hammers and the supporting-rail, so that theconvenient placing in position of the hammer-supporting rail with thehammers thereon in the lower part of the easing is obtained.

The lower front corners of the hammers may be slightly beveled andplaced in contact with an inclined wedge-piece /L, that is attached tothe bottom of the casing, said wedgepiece serving, in connection withthe beveled lower front ends of the hammers, to arrest and interruptthereby the repeated oscillating motion to which the hammers aresubjected on their return to normal position before they assume aposition of rest. It is preferable to cover the supporting-rail as faras the same is in contact with the recesses of the hammershanks and thewedge-piece with a facing of felt for producing noiseless oscillationsof the hammers. The contact of the lower ends of the hammers with thewedge-piece h also diminishes the corresponding up-and-down motion ofthe keys, so that they come almost instantly to a position of rest andthe annoying rise and fall of the same after each depression is doneaway with.

The hammers (Z are preferably formed in two sectionsnamely, an upperpivoted section '2: and a lower section i, whieh'is hinged to the uppersection and adapted to" swing thereon toward the sounding-rods when thehammer is actuated. In the drawings, 6 indicates the hinge connectingthe hammer-sections, said hinge being formed of a piece of thin leatheror other suitable material secured to the sections at that side towardthe sounding-rods. For preventing the lower section of the hammer (Zflying too far back a stop plate 2' is provided, which is attached tothe upper section 2' and extends into the path of the lower section t"at the side of the same opposite the hinge and striker-plate, so as toarrest the lower section at the proper point.

To the upper section of the hammer is attached a return-spring e,composed, preferably, of wire and which bears at its lower end on thelower section and acts to return the same promptly after its outwardmovement, thereby preventing double strokes upon the sounding-rod.

The musical toy is operated by depressing the keys in succession, bywhich a musical tune within the limits of the scale employed isproduced. 1f chords are to be produced, several of the keys may bedepressed at the same time, so that several vibratory rods are soundedsimultaneously. The toy produces sounds in imitation of church-chimes,its casing being made up with a view of representing the bell-tower of achurch. As all the parts are inclosed, they are protected against beingmeddled with. The parts employed being not connected with each other,the mechanism cannot get out of order. The upper surface of theprojecting rest-pieces being provided with a facing of leather, felt, orother sound-deadening material permits the contact of the keys withoutnoise. The hammers are returned by gravity to their normal positionafter each stroke imparted by a key, the metallic striker-platesimparting the required weight to the hammers for being quickly returnedinto their normal position, the inclined wedge-pieces acting in thenature of buffers preventing the repeated oscillations of the hammers,so that they quickly assume the normal position of rest under theinfluence of gravity.

The toy forms a pleasing musical toy for children, the convient andattractive form appealing to the eye, while the sounds produced areagreeable to the ear.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metal barin said casing, a series of vibratory rods supported by said metal bar,oscillating hammers located in front of said rods, said hammers beingprovided with rest-pieces at the upper ends and striker-plates at thelower ends, and keys guided in said casing and resting on therest-pieces for actuating the hammers, substantially as set forth.

2. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metal bar supported in thebottom of said casing, a series of upright vibratory rods supported onsaid bar, hammers located in front of said rods and being recessed attheir upper ends, a supporting-rail on which the recessed upper ends ofthe hammers are supported, a retaining-rail back of saidsupporting-rail, striker-plates one at the lower end of each hammer,rest-pieces extending in for- 3. A musical toy, consisting of a casing,a

metal bar supported in the bottom of said casing, a series of uprightvibratory rods supported on said bar, hammers located in front of saidrods and being recessed at their upper ends, a supporting-rail on whichthe recessed upper ends of the hammers are supported, saidsupporting-rail being provided with separating-fingers extending betweenthe hammer-shanks, a retaining-rail back of said supporting-rail,striker-plates one at the lower end of each hammer, rest-piecesextending in forward direction at the upper ends of said hammers, andkeys guided inthe horizontal portion of the casing for actuating thehammers, substantially as set forth.

4. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metal bar at the lower partof said casing, a series of vibratory rods supported on said bar,oscillating hammers arranged in front of said vibratory rods, strikerplates at the lower ends of said hammers and forwardlyextendingrest-pieces at the upper ends of the same, keys guided in the front partof the casing and resting on the said rest-pieces, and a Wedge-shapedarresting-piece located below and in front of the lower ends of saidhammer-shanks, substantially as set forth.

5. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metallic bar in said casing,a series of vibratory rods supported by said bar, oscillating hammerslocated in front of said rods, said hammers being composed of an upperpivoted section and a lower section hinged to said upper section andadapted to swing thereon toward said rods, striker-plates on the lowersection, a stop-plate on the hammer for arresting the return of thelower section, a return-spring on the opposite side of the hammer forreturning the lower section, restpieces on the upper sections of thehammers, and keys guided in the casing and resting on the rest-piecesfor actuating the hammers, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- WM. ALFRED GAY. Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL,

HENRY J. SUI-IRBIER.

